Sealing Cap

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a sealing cap, comprising a sealing cap body and a seal projection with a welding body which is welded tight to the container for sealing to achieve a security seal. The sealing cap is simple and economical to produce, the first opening is obvious and tampering with the container can be clearly made out.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of the Swiss Patent Application No. 00366/05, which was filed on Mar. 3, 2005 and the complete disclosure of which is herewith incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to a sealing cap for a container wherein at least one preset breaking point is provided to guarantee a first opening. Furthermore, the invention relates to a container with a sealing cap of this type and a method for producing a container of this type.

PRIOR ART

Packages and containers are often provided with a so-called “first opening guarantee”. A first opening guarantee of this type indicates to the user of the container whether the container has previously been opened.

There are a number of reasons why containers are provided with such a first opening guarantee. In particular, the unnoticed removal or addition of contents is prevented in this way. Not least, there are legal provisions which absolutely stipulate a first opening guarantee for certain products.

Containers having a first opening guarantee are used, in particular, in the fields of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food.

In containers having a sealing cap, such as bottles or tubes, the first opening guarantee can, for example, be realized by a collar which surrounds the cap and a part of the container and which must be broken for opening. Among other things, this solution has the disadvantage that a significant amount of waste is produced when opening.

A relatively simple solution is to securely stick a strip, e.g. of paper, to the sealing cap and container part which is torn apart when the sealing cap is first removed. However, this solution has the disadvantage that it is not secure because the strip can generally also be removed without damage. Furthermore, the strip cannot always be optimally integrated in the optical product design and can, in particular, appear cheap and unprofessional.

Furthermore, there are solutions in which the opening of the container is sealed directly and not the sealing cap, e.g. with a twist-off pin or a sealing foil. In these solutions also, waste is produced when first opened. In addition, they are often expensive to produce and at times inadequate with respect to their user friendliness.

Furthermore, it is known, e.g. from EP 0 254 810, to configure the cap with a lower part, whereby the lower part is fastened to the container by means of a thread and/or by snapping on. Preset breaking points are provided between the sealing cap and the lower part which break when the sealing cap is first removed. The lower part remains on the container even after opening. However, these solutions have the disadvantage that the container must have a thread or a snap ring and that it can, under certain circumstances, be possible to remove the sealing cap together with the lower part and then put on again, so that the preset breaking points remain intact. Furthermore, the production is expensive since the preset breaking points should not already break during the initial mounting of the cap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object is to provide a sealing cap of the aforementioned type which is simple and economical to produce, which, with respect to the first opening guarantee, offers great security and which is user friendly.

This object is solved in that the sealing cap has a sealing cap body and a seal projection with a welding body for welding to the container, wherein the at least one preset breaking point is designed to break a connection between sealing cap body and welding body.

In a preferred embodiment, removal means are provided which remove remnants of the connecting means of the connection between sealing cap body and welding body from the welding body. This is accomplished by cutting or shearing off these remnants by means of removal means when turning the sealing cap body relative to the stationary welding body fastened to the container during the initial turning movement of the sealing cap. As a result, protruding remnants of the connecting means are removed which is advantageous, in particular, for a liquid or ointment for eye drops or the like to be applied to the human or animal body, as the danger of injury due to the remnants is thereby avoided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages, designs and preferred embodiments are found in the dependent claims and in the following description with reference to the drawings, showing:

FIG. 1 a sealing cap according to the invention in an embodiment with two stays;

FIG. 2 a container for closing with the sealing cap according to the invention;

FIG. 3 the container from FIG. 2 after it has been closed and sealed with the sealing cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 the container from FIG. 3, after the sealing cap has been lifted a bit and the preset breaking point severed;

FIG. 5 the container from FIG. 4, after the sealing cap has been completely removed;

FIG. 6 a preferred embodiment of the sealing cap and the container with sealing cap with removal means for the connecting means in a closed position;

FIG. 7 the embodiment of FIG. 6 during opening of the container with destroyed breaking point;

FIG. 8 the embodiment of FIG. 6 with a sealing cap turned further in direction of opening and removed connecting means;

FIG. 9 the embodiment of FIG. 6 with opened container; and

FIG. 10 the sealing cap of the embodiment of FIG. 6.

METHODS FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows an example of a sealing cap 1 according to the invention. The sealing cap 1 has a sealing cap body 2 and a seal projection 3. The sealing cap body 2 has e.g. essentially the shape of a cone or is cylindrical and has a longitudinal median axis about which the sealing cap is turned when the container sealed with the sealing cap is opened. The outer surface of the sealing cap body has e.g. grooves 8 which serve to improve the grip. Furthermore, it has one or two or more ridges 7. A projection 7 of this type can be used to align the sealing cap during assembly with respect to a rotation about its axis. The seal projection 3 consists of a welding body 6 and, preferably, of connecting means 4 between the sealing cap body 2 and the welding body 6, preferably in the form of a stay 4 or, as shown, two stays 4. The seal projection 3 preferably has the shape of a disk, i.e. it is flat and its surface is essentially formed by two even, in particular parallel, surfaces, a first inner one for support and for welding to the container and a second, outer surface as point of application for the welding device. The inner surface, and possibly also the outer surface, can also be curved for adapting to the container. The disk is preferably, but not necessarily, round, in particular, it can also extend straight on the connection for the connecting means 4. On the end of the connecting means 4 on the sealing cap body side, here on the end of each stay 4, there is a preset breaking point 5. It is situated directly on the sealing cap body 2, so that only minimal remnants of the seal projection 3 remain on the sealing cap body 2 after the first opening. Preferably, the sealing cap 1 according to the invention is made as one piece. Furthermore, it is preferably an injection-molded part consisting of plastic.

FIG. 2 shows a container 9 for sealing with the sealing cap of the invention. The container can, for example, be a tube or a bottle. In particular, the container can be a Polyfoil® laminate tube. The sealing cap is placed on a spout 11 with an opening 10. Preferably, the container 9 has a welding surface 12 for welding the welding body 6 on. The welding surface 12 is preferably formed by a neck of the container which has about the same diameter, i.e. in the range of plus/minus 1 mm, as the end of the sealing cap 1 on the container side.

FIG. 3 shows the container 9 of FIG. 2 after it has been sealed with the sealing cap 1 of FIG. 1 and the seal projection 3 has been welded onto the welding surface 12 of the container 9. Preferably, the welding body 6 is welded to the welding surface 12 by means of ultrasonic welding. The sealing cap 1 is preferably configured in such a way that the preset breaking points 5 are bent during assembly, so that they break more easily during the first opening. In particular, this can be attained in that the seal projection 3 first projects essentially radially after the injection molding, as shown in FIG. 1, and is then bent in an essentially axial direction. The sealing cap 1 is held at least by the seal projection 3 on the spout of the container 9. However, it is also possible to provide a snap ring or a thread on the inside of the sealing cap 1 and correspondingly on the outside of the spout 11. As a result, the container 9 can be configured so as to be resealable.

FIG. 4 shows the container of FIG. 3 after the sealing cap 1 has been removed and the preset breaking points 5 severed.

FIG. 5 shows the container of FIG. 4 after the sealing cap 1 has been completely removed. The seal projection 3 remains on the container 9.

In the sealing cap according to the invention, the seal projection is preferably welded onto the container with ultrasound. Basically, however, other types of mountings are also possible, e.g. other welding methods, a fastening by means of gluing or a fastening by means of a snap mechanism.

FIGS. 6 to 10 show a preferred embodiment in which the sealing cap is provided with removal means for the connecting means. The same reference numbers as have been used thusfar will thereby designate the same elements. In this embodiment, two stays 4 with preset breaking points 5 are again provided on the sealing cap as connecting means 4 between sealing cap 2 and welding body 6, however, only one stay 4 can also be provided or e.g. a wider band-shaped stay. Removal means 14 are placed on the sealing cap and fastened to it, in particular made as one piece with the sealing cap 2. The removal means are cutting means or shearing means and serve to remove the connecting means 4 from the welding body 6 by means of the sealing cap 2. FIG. 6 thereby shows the sealing position in which the undamaged seal indicates that the safety seal of the container 9 has never been opened. FIG. 7 shows a position during the opening in which the preset breaking point 5 of the connecting means 4 or, in this example, the two preset breaking points 5 of the two stays 4 are broken open by turning the sealing cap 2, so that the sealing cap 2 is separated from the connecting means 4 or the two stays 4. In the position shown in FIG. 7, the removal means 14 also turned when the sealing cap 2 is turned are just about to contact the connecting means 4 remaining on the welding body 6. The removal means are designed in such a way that they form a cutting edge or shearing edge for the connecting means 4 which cut or shear the connecting means from the welding body 6 when the sealing cap is turned further in direction of opening. For this purpose, a weakening zone can also be provided between the connecting means 4 and the welding body 6 or, in this example, a weakening zone between the stays 4 and the welding body 6, respectively, which facilitates the cutting of shearing of the connecting means 4 or the stays 4 or defines the cutting or shearing range more accurately than without a weakening zone. However, in any event, the weakening zone is designed in such a way that it does not give way during turning of the sealing cap to open it instead of the preset breaking point, so that the opening of the safety seal always accompanies the destruction of the preset breaking point 5.

FIG. 8 shows the position of the sealing cap in which the connecting means 4 or the stays 4 is or are already completely separated from the welding body by the removal means. The now loosened stays are designated with 4′ in the figure. FIG. 9 shows the container 9 with the sealing cap removed from it and it can be seen that the connecting means 4 or the stays 4 are now removed from the welding body in most points, so that almost no projecting remnants of the connecting means protrude on it. This can be further improved if the front end of the welding body 6, at which the connecting means are connected with it, is a straight front end, so that the welding body is no longer circular, but only still partially circular or even square or rectangular. In this way, protruding remnants of the connecting means are avoided by the removal means when the container is open which can simplify the handling of the container and, in particular, makes it more secure if the container is to be brought to the eyes of a user, e.g. when applying eye drops from the container, as no protruding remnants of the connecting means can then injure an eye. FIG. 10 shows the sealing cap 1 with its sealing cap body 2 and the seal projection 3 with the welding body 6 and the connecting means 4. Furthermore, the removal means 14 can be seen which are situated on the sealing cap body in such a way that, in a fixed welding body and turning sealing cap body 2, i.e. in the situation which results when a closed container 9 is opened, the connecting means 4 separate from the welding body after a predetermined opening angle of rotation has been completed.

While preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the present application, it should be clearly pointed out that the invention is not restricted to them and can also be designed in another way within the scope of the following claims. 

1. A sealing cap for a container, wherein, to guarantee a first opening, at least one preset breaking point is provided, characterized in that it has a sealing cap body and a seal projection with a welding body for welding to the container, wherein the at least one preset breaking point is formed to break a connection between sealing cap body and welding body.
 2. The sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that it has connecting means between sealing cap body and welding body and removal means situated on the sealing cap body, said removal means being arranged such that they separate the connecting means from the welding body with a stationary welding body and when the sealing cap is turned during opening of the seal.
 3. The sealing cap according to claim 2, characterized in that the connecting means are connected to the welding body via a weakening zone.
 4. The sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that it is made as one piece.
 5. The sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the welding body is disk-shaped.
 6. The sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the welding body is disk-shaped and square.
 7. The sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the welding body is connected with the seal cap body by connecting means in the form of a stay or two stays (4).
 8. The sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one preset breaking point is situated directly on the sealing cap body.
 9. The sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a thread or a snap ring.
 10. The sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that it has at least one projection which enables the sealing cap to be aligned with respect to a rotation about its axis.
 11. A container with a sealing cap, characterized in that the sealing cap has a sealing cap according to claim
 1. 12. The container with sealing cap according to claim 11, characterized in that the container is a tube or a bottle.
 13. The container with sealing cap according to claim 11, characterized in that it has a neck for welding to the welding body, whereby it has, in particular, essentially the same diameter as an end of the sealing cap on the container side.
 14. The container according to claim 11, characterized in that its sealing cap has connecting means between sealing cap body and welding body and removal means situated on the sealing cap body, said removal means being arranged such that they separate the connecting means from the welding body in a stationary welding body and sealing cap which turns when the container is opened.
 15. The container with sealing cap according to claim 11, characterized in that the sealing cap is designed in such a way that, with a container sealed with it, the welding body can only be welded to the container when the at least one preset breaking point is first bent.
 16. A method for producing a closed container with a sealing cap according to claim 1, characterized in that the welding body is welded to the container by means of ultrasonic welding.
 17. The sealing cap according to claim 4 which is an injection molded port.
 18. The sealing cap according to claim 5 wherein the welding body is cylindrical. 